Collective Research

First Debate

Gaps in the theory / missing links

Sources/citations

Minecraft recreation of Richat-Atlantis

Opera: Atlas Chained

Documentary brainstorm

Atlantis Together Documentary Critiques

Structure of Documentary

Explore

Comparison Plato's Atlantis - Richat

Geography

Geography:

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https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.1201/9781003162766-6/changes-west-african-landscape-end-african-humid-period-anne-marie-l%C3%A9zine-k%C3%A9vin-lemonnier-martyn-waller-ilham-bouimetarhan-lydie-dupont⁠

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https://www.atlantis-scout.de/RichterU_2005_PlatosAtlantisWasInARiverDelta.pdf⁠

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillars_of_Hercules⁠

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jebel_Musa_(Morocco)⁠

Oceaan ondieper betekent water weggezakt

AQUIFER

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https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fericcharpentier.com%2Fen%2Fpage-22974-lamatlich&psig=AOvVaw2mLVVrayDwx3p_SHpS3HAG&ust=1707058848637000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBMQjhxqFwoTCKi00PS3j4QDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE⁠

ERG DRIED UP RIVERBED LAKE

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https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erg_Amatlich⁠

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https://www.researchgate.net/figure/f0020-Location-of-Saharan-sand-seas-and-vectors-of-sand-transport-Sand-seas-are-numbered_fig3_237080552⁠

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erg_(landform)⁠

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/redeposition⁠

redeposition artefacts?

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Van⁠

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https://youtu.be/r-dZj1ZdRtY?si=wHrmSH0Yp2TkbXtd⁠

OLD SAHARA RIVERS

salt deposits? river!!!

banc darguin mudflats!!!!!!!!!

trace richat riverbeds

congo river modern comparison ancient tamanrasset

The tropical vegetation was replaced by desert vegetation, in some places suddenly and in others more gradually.

[728]⁠

Along the

Atlantic⁠

coast, the vegetation retreat was slowed by a stage of

sea level rise⁠

that increased soil moisture levels, delaying the retreat by about two millennia.

[729]⁠

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[730]⁠

In Libya at Wadi Tanezzuft the end of the humid period was also delayed by leftover water in dune systems and in the

Tassili⁠

mountains until 2,700 years ago, when river activity finally ceased.

[77]⁠

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[731]⁠

A brief moist pulse between 5,000 – 4,000 years ago in the Tibesti led to the development of the so-called "Lower

Terrace⁠

[732]⁠

The Egyptian Sahara might still have been vegetated until 4,200 years ago, based on depictions of

savanna⁠

environments in

Fifth Dynasty⁠

tombs in Egypt.

[733]⁠

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_humid_period⁠

aardbeving richat gebouwen ingestort

richat hap in ringen op plaats waar landbrug was? water erosie?

crops twice a year berbers!!

https://atlantipedia.ie/samples/atlas-mountains/⁠

Sahara humid phase

seizoenen in atlantis klimaat tijd?

Maghreb region West

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_humid_period⁠

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oued_Seguellil⁠

ground water adrar region

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316553536_A_support_for_the_existence_of_paleolakes_and_paleorivers_buried_under_Saharan_sand_by_means_of_gravitational_signal_from_EIGEN_6C4⁠

paleorivers mauritania

6 - GEOGRAPHICAL ORIENTATION

Constraint 4: The ‘island’ is geographically related to Libya, Egypt, Tyrrhenia, and ‘Asia’ (Critias 24e, 25b). Plato wrote:

There lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia together (Critias 24e) Now in this island of Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings, of great and marvellous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent; and, moreover, (25b) of the lands here within the Straits they ruled over Libya as far as Egypt, and over Europe as far as Tyrrhenia.(Critias 25b)

First of all, we must take into account the meaning of the words ‘island’, ‘Lybia’, ‘Tyrrhenia’ and ‘Asia’, as written by Plato. The word ‘νῆσος’ is translated as ‘island’ (Liddell & Scott, 1940), however, the semantic scope of this word was broader for the Greeks than for us. For example, the Peloponnesos is the largest peninsula of Greece, and its name derives from the same word, meaning ‘island of Pelops’, Pelops being a mythological ancient king who supposedly founded Pisa, located on this peninsula (Britannica, 2018). Since this peninsula is connected to the mainland by a narrow land bridge known as an isthmus, it is not an isolated island, completely surrounded by water, as the modern definition of an ‘island’ is usually understood. The term νῆσος was even used to talk about the Nile delta, which was understood as land flooded by the Nile (Liddell & Scott, 1940). It is easy to imagine that during the African humid period, when the continent was riddled with lakes and rivers, different landmasses were separated from one another by these bodies of water, appearing as a fractured puzzle of several partially separate ‘islands’, which might still have had some land bridges between them. The aforementioned Atlantist, Alexander Hübner, mentioned the fact that the local inhabitants of Morocco and Mauritania, the Amazigh (Berber) peoples, refer to their region as ‘جزيرة المغرب, Djesirat el-Maghreb’, which means ‘Island of the West’ (Hübner, 2012). This coincides with the place known to the Greeks as Ἑσπερία, Hesperia, meaning ‘evening land’ (Rat, 1965) or ‘land of the West’ (Hamilton, 1987), because it was understood to be the western most part of the known world, and since the sun sets in the west, it was thus associated with evening. Furthermore, the Hesperides, a group of nymphs who were the mythological daughters of the titan Atlas, were said to live in this area, tending Hera’s garden of golden apples (Kapach, 2023). I will come back to this later on.

Secondly, Plato mentions that Atlantis was geographically related to the regions of ‘Libya’, ‘Tyrrhenia’ and ‘Asia’. In the geographical lexicon of the Ancient Greeks, Libya (Λιβύη) referred to North and Northwestern Africa, and Thyrrenia (Τυρρηνία) referred to present day Tuscany, a region along the northwestern coast of Italy. Asia (Ἀσία) usually referred to the region of Anatolia, current day Turkey (Liddell & Scott, 1940). However, in Plato’s text, the Egyptian priest refers to his ancestors as being a people from Asia:

We [the prehistoric Egyptians who settled Sais] were the first of the peoples of Asia to adopt these weapons, it being the Goddess who instructed us, even as she instructed you first of all the dwellers in yonder lands. (Critias 24b)

This either implies that the ancestors of the Egyptians from Sais originated from Anatolia, or that ‘Asia’ here is meant in a broader sense, referring to anywhere between Anatolia and the Levant up to Egypt, which was also said to be a part of the Atlantean empire. These facts considered together give us a clear indication of the global location of the city of Atlantis and the surrounding ‘islands’. Since the Richat structure is located in West-Africa, directly under the region which the Greeks called Libya, the Atlanteans could have easily travelled to North Africa, and from there to Europe via the Iberian Peninsula, up to Tuscany, and in the east to Egypt, the Levant and Anatolia. Thus, constraint 4 has been satisfied.

Constraint 5: Around 15000 BP, Atlantis was part of a region of ‘islands’ which “surrounded the true ocean” and granted access to a “boundless continent” (Critias 25a)

It was possible for the travellers of that time to cross from it to the other islands, and from the islands to the whole of the continent (25a) over against them which encompasses that veritable ocean. For all that we have here, lying within the mouth of which we speak, is evidently a haven having a narrow entrance; but that yonder is a real ocean, and the land surrounding it may most rightly be called, in the fullest and truest sense, a continent.(Critias 25a)

As has been discussed before, the many lakes and rivers in Africa during the humid period, divided the continent up into semi-separate regions referred to as ‘islands’. From these regions, it would have been possible to travel further south into the bowels of the central African jungle, and this part of the continent stretches down all the way to South Africa. This is most probably what Plato means with ‘a continent in the fullest and truest sense’. It is mentioned that these ‘islands’ encompass the veritable ocean, referring to the Atlantic ocean which wraps around the entire west coast of Africa. This vast ocean is contrasted to the mediterranean sea, which pales in comparison as a mere inland ‘haven’. Thus, constraint 5 has been satisfied.

Constraint 6: Related to the Atlantic ocean and the name Atlas (Timaeus 24e, Critias 114a). Plato wrote:

Starting from a distant point in the Atlantic ocean (Timaeus 24e)

Giving to him that was eldest and king the name after which the whole island was called and the sea spoken of as the Atlantic, because the first king who then reigned had the name of Atlas (Critias 114a)

As we just established, the Richat structure is located near the Atlantic Ocean, being located about 500 kilometres from the West African coast, and because of the presence of paleolakes and rivers such as the Tamanrasset, the Richat was directly connected by water to the Atlantic ocean. The reason why Plato writes that the Atlanteans came from a distant point in the Atlantic ocean, might be explained by the limited extent of the known world at that time. If we overlay a reconstructed map of this known world, we see that the Richat structure and the surrounding region fall outside of the known continent, thus placing it in what was assumed to be the Atlantic ocean. From the perspective of Egypt or Greece, this would indeed seem like a very distant point, ‘in the Atlantic ocean’.

The Richat structure is located south of the Atlas mountain range. According to Ancient Greek mythology, the titan Atlas was condemned to hold the firmament on his shoulders in this region, when the titans lost the war against the gods known as the titanomachy. He was turned into the Atlas mountain range by the hero Perseus, his head becoming the peak, his hair the forest and his shoulders the mountain ridges (Kapach, 2023). Furthermore, the local Mauri people to this day still relate the existence of their mythological first king, known as King Atlas of Mauritania (Wikidata, n.d.), which exactly matches Plato’s description of the alleged first king of Atlantis being called Atlas. Even if the legendary king of Mauritania, the titan and the Atlantic king described by Plato don’t refer to the same individual, the simultaneous occurrence of this name in this region might still be namesakes, when individuals are named after local mythological figures.

In his seminal book ‘The Histories’, Herodotus, an Ancient Greek writer who is often regarded as the father of history, who passed away two years after the birth of Plato, presents a collection of stories and personal accounts from various places around the known world which he personally visited. In his book, he also spoke of a West African people which he called the ‘Atlantes’ (Herodotus, Godley, 1683):

Another ten days' journey from the Garamantes there is again a salt hill and water, where men live called Atarantes. These are the only men whom we know who have no names; for the whole people are called Atarantes, but no man has a name of his own. [2] When the sun is high, they curse and very foully revile him, because his burning heat afflicts their people and their land. [3] After another ten days' journey there is again a hill of salt, and water, and men living there. Near to this salt is a mountain called Atlas, whose shape is slender and conical; and it is said to be so high that its heights cannot be seen, for clouds are always on them winter and summer. The people of the country call it the pillar of heaven. [4] These men get their name, which is Atlantes, from this mountain. It is said that they eat no living creature, and see no dreams in their sleep. (Herodotus, The Histories: IV.184.1-4)

The Garamantes were a North African warrior civilisation (Wyrwoll, 1998), and the ‘Atarantes’ might refer to the inhabitants of the region surrounding Atar, a Mauritanian city located about 160 km or 100 miles west of the Richat structure. The claim that they cursed the sun because its heat afflicted their people and land might be easily understood, seeing the many natural disasters and desertification of the region caused by the sun throughout the millennia, which we just discussed. Herodotus claims that the Atlantes were named after the Atlas mountains, thus this fragment provides us with at least one credible source referencing an Atlantean people in Northwest Africa that predates Plato.

Lastly, the Richat structure is located in a region of Mauritania called the Adrar plateau, from the local Amazigh word ‘ⴰⴷⵔⴰⵔ’ (ádrār), which means mountain. This exact word has also been proposed as a possible etymological origin of the name Atlas, which is believed to be pre-Greek (Aleksic, n.d.). Either ‘Atlas’ might be a corruption of ‘Adrar’, or vice versa, or both originate from an alternate source from 12.000 years ago. Since this word means mountain, it seems obvious why the Atlas mountains were named after this mythical mountain-titan. This would also explain why the Titan Atlas as a mountain symbolically held up the firmament of the heavens.

Furthermore, Maximus of Tyre, a rhetorician and philosopher from the second century BC wrote that in his time, the inhabitants of the Atlas mountains revered the mountain like a temple and a statue:

The Hesperian Lybians inhabit a long narrow strip of land surrounded by the sea. The extremity of this peninsula the ocean envelopes with heavy waves and currents. To these men Atlas is a temple and a statue. But Atlas is a hollow mountain, of a great altitude, open to the sea like theatres to the air; and in the middle region of the mountain and the sea there is a deep valley, fertile and well planted with trees. (Maximus of Tyre, Disertationes, viii. 57)

Considering all of these facts, it would make intuitive sense for Atlantis to be located in Northwest Africa, with the ocean directly bordering it to the west being named the Atlantic, after Atlas; and the Atlas mountain range situated to the north of this landmass being similarly named after Atlas. Furthermore, the local mythical first king was named Atlas; Herodotus wrote about the ‘Atlantes’ people in this region; and even the name of the region itself probably originates from the same word as the name Atlas. Therefore, we can conclude that the Richat structure is located in an area that is associated with the Atlantic ocean and the name Atlas, and thus constraint 6 has been satisfied.

There is no real difference in meaning between pontos and pelagos, as both mean “wide, open sea”, and Okeanos, at least, initially means something else entirely (i.e. no sea, but the circular stream of water surrounding the inhabited earth. Heinz-Günther Nesselrath

How Not to Join the Dots. Remarks on a Flawed Recent Attempt to Locate Atlantis (Extended version of BMCR 2020.04.15)⁠

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7 - ATLANTIS NESOS

Constraint 7: Situated on a landmass which is straight and oblong, extending 3000 “stades” in one direction but 2000 across the centre inland, rising up sheer from the sea, with a sea to the south and sheltered by plenty of mountains to the north (Critias 117e-118b). Plato wrote:

We must endeavour next to repeat the account of the rest of the country, (118a) what its natural character was, and in what fashion it was ordered. In the first place, then, according to the account, the whole region rose sheer out of the sea to a great height, (...) and this plain had a level surface and was as a whole rectangular in shape, being 3000 stades long on either side and 2000 stades wide at its centre, reckoning upwards from the sea. And this region, (118b) all along the island, faced towards the South and was sheltered from the Northern blasts. And the mountains which surrounded it were at that time celebrated as surpassing all that now exist in number, magnitude and beauty. (Critias 117e-118b)

In his dialogues, Plato frequently uses the ancient measure ‘stadium’ or ‘stade’ to indicate sizes and distances within the account of Atlantis. The correct interpretation of what the original length of the mentioned state amounted to, has been a subject of debate among Atlantists. The Greek version is often mentioned, since Solon was a Greek, known as the Olympic stade, which is now believed to have measured around 192 metres, or about 630 feet (Chrisholm & Zupko, 2018). Others use the Phoenician-Egyptian stade since the Atlantis story came from Egypt, and this stade is thought to have measured around 209 metres, or 686 feet. The problem with these proposed measurements, however, is that they would have been in use 600 years after the fall of Atlantis. Claiming that the Atlanteans would have used these exact measurements would be four times as preposterous as assuming that the Greeks of Plato’s time used the same kilometre or mile as we do today. The exact lengths of the Greek and Egyptian stade were long lost to us, until they were reconstructed by comparing measurements which were given in ancient texts to the modern day locations to which they referred. Even so, the lengths of these stades were often variable and locally determined. It is highly likely that the original stade which was used in the recorded story of Atlantis has been long lost to time, when measurements shifted and units were abandoned. Therefore, we must rely on the proportions of the different measurements given in the account, and compare these to the Richat structure and the relevant region of West Africa. The centre island and the rings of the city of Atlantis were said to measure 5, 1, 2, 2, 3 and 3 ‘stades’ (Critias 115e-116a). These proportions are very regular and quite easy to remember, and therefore the relative proportions of these islands are more likely to have survived the transmission of the story, than their actual measurements. In II.11, I apply these proportions to the Richat structure, to show that it fits this description, and from there I derive that the Atlantean ‘stade’ most likely measured around 700 metres, or about 0,43 miles (Janssens, 2023).

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KILOMETER MARKERS AANGEVEN OP KAART

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https://www.reddit.com/r/atlantis/comments/1bzv65h/richat_as_the_city_of_atlantis_and_its_proximity/⁠

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Adrar region elevated

Taking this as the measurement of one stade and multiplying it by 2000 and by 3000, we can calculate that the size of the landmass on which Atlantis was located measured around 1.400 kilometres or 870 miles, by 2.100 kilometres or 1.305 miles. In order to fit these proportions, this landmass most probably refers to the region spanning from the Adrar plain all the way up to the Atlas mountains and the Mediterranean coast. Plato described the ‘island’ as ‘προμήκης’, meaning prolonged or elongated (Critias 118a). This region in Northwest Africa roughly has the shape of a rhombus, thus fitting this description as being oblong. Furthermore, this region is indeed sheltered from the Northern winds by the Atlas mountains. On the side of the Atlantic, the Moroccan and Mauritanian coasts often rise steeply from the sea in the form of endless red cliffs. As can be seen on an elevation map of Africa, the region on the side of the Richat structure, to the south of Atlantis Nesos, has a gradual descent, towards what during the African humid period would have been a collection of paleolakes and rivers. Taking all of these facts together, we can confidently conclude that the Atlas-Adrar region fits the specific descriptions of the Island of Atlantis, as given by Plato, and thus constraint 7 has been satisfied.

Constraint 8: Located outside the pillars of Hercules near a region called ‘Gadeirus’ (Timaeus 24e, Critias 114b). Plato wrote:

There was an island situated in front of the straits which are by you [the Greeks] called the Pillars of Heracles (Timaeus 24e)

The extremity of the island near the pillars of Heracles up to the part of the country now called Gadeira after the name of that region, was Eumelus in Greek, but in the native tongue Gadeiros (Critias 114b)

Since the pillars of Hercules are located at the farthest end of the region around the Atlas mountains, the Atlantis Nesos also fits this geographical marker. West Africa, including the Richat structure, is located west of these pillars, and from the perspective of the Greeks and the Egyptians in the Mediterranean sea, this region would be located ‘outside’ of the pillars, because in order to reach it, one would need to sail beyond the pillars, along the coast of Morocco, towards the coast of Mauritania. The latin phrase ‘non plus ultra’, meaning ‘nothing beyond’ was associated with the pillars of Hercules, since before the discovery of the America’s (which inspired the former colonial Spanish state to adopt the slogan ‘plus ultra’, ‘more beyond’ written on a banner which wraps around the pillars of Hercules), the Atlantic ocean beyond it was known in ancient times to be vast and seemingly endless. Therefore, the description of the island of Atlantis being in front of these pillars, most definitely did not mean that it was directly in front of it, far into the Atlantic ocean, but rather that it was located in the part of West Africa that lay outside of the pillars.

Alexander Hübner pointed to the fact that Plato distinguishes the Greek name Gadeira from the local name Gadeiros. Plato most probably does not mean that Gadeirus was actually the local name, since Amazigh words don’t have Greek suffixes such as -os, but rather Plato likely meant that the local name was a masculine word, thus Gadeir-os, instead of the feminine Gadeir-a (Hübner, 2012). Masculine words in Amazigh are marked by the affix a-, i- or u-. Hübner uses this insight to identify Gadeiros as the Moroccan region of Agadir, since this contains the Amazigh masculine affix a-, followed by the root ‘-gadir’, just as how Solon Hellenified this name as ‘Gadeir-’ plus the masculine suffix -us. The ‘gadir’ derives from the Semitic g-d-r, which means a walled fortification (Kossmann, n.d.) or enclosure, either around a city or around a flock of sheep (Vycichl, 1952) . This corresponds to the Greek translation of the meaning of the place, ‘Eumelos’, which translates to ‘rich in sheep’ (Perseus Digital Library, 2008). As will be discussed later in this essay, sheep herding and pastoralism were crucial forms of life in these regions in prehistoric times up to the present, which explains why this region is associated with sheep and enclosures. Thus, we can conclude that the Richat structure is indeed located outside of the straits of Gibraltar, and near a place known as ‘Gadeirus’ (Agadir), and thus constraint 8 has been satisfied.

Constraint 9: Before the flood of 3.200 BP the city of Atlantis was accessible by ship but at the time of Solon (600 BC), the city of Atlantis was inaccessible by ship because of a shoal of mud that was left when the island sank (Timaeus 24e, 25d, Critias 109a). Plato wrote:

In those days the Atlantic was navigable [at the time of the war] (Timaeus 24e) The ocean at that spot has now become impassable and unsearchable, being blocked up by the shoal mud which the island created as it settled down (Timaeus 25d) [The island] now lies sunk by earthquakes and has created a barrier of impassable mud (Critias 109a)

As has been described earlier, around 3.200 BP the Adrar region in which the Richat structure is located was connected to the Atlantic ocean by vast river networks, and perhaps even connected to large inland lakes. This way, it would have been possible to sail from the Atlantic ocean into the West African continent, and thus also passing by the Richat structure, which, as will be demonstrated shortly, contained water in the inner depressions of its rings at this time. During the period between the time of the fall of Atlantis and the present, these rivers and lake systems have slowly evaporated, until only the unforgiving, barren desert of today was left. It might have been well possible that in the time of Solon, 2.600 BP, there were still some rivers left, although shrunken in size and amount. This would explain why it was described that at that time, a shoal of mud was left which blocked passage by boat. A shoal is a sand bank which rises out of the surrounding shallow water, or lies just below the surface, making it hard for ships to get across. When the river system connecting the city of Atlantis to the Atlantic slowly dried up over thousands of years, it is to be expected that shoals would appear at some point, when the water is so low that it almost reaches the bottom. In fact, many old maps which are only a few hundred years old (Princeton Library, n.d.), still depict Africa with several rivers entering into inland Mauritania, around the latitude of the Richat structure, suggesting that these mud shoals might have still existed for another two millennia after Solon. Among these maps is also the Peri Reis map from 1513, which at the exact location of the Richat structure also shows what seems like rivers flowing in a circle around a fort or a mountain which connect it to other rivers and lakes, and an elephant is depicted right in front of the Arguin basin as well (Edward, 2022). Taking these facts into account, we can conclude that the Richat structure was accessible by ship during the neoolithic, but slowly became impassable due to mud shoals arising when the rivers dried up over the course of millennia. Thus, constraint 9 has been satisfied.

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MUD SHOALS REFER TO ARGUIN BAY OR NOUAKHCHOTT???

8 - THE RICHAT STRUCTURE AND ITS GEOLOGY

Now we shall take a closer look at the descriptions which Plato gave to the famous ringed city of Atlantis, and I will demonstrate that all of these fit surprisingly accurately onto the Richat structure, thus providing the final nail in the coffin for the proof that Plato’s Atlantis was in fact the Richat structure. Afterwards, I will go on to describe the wealth of archaeological discoveries from the Richat structure, and paint a picture of the neolithic culture which once thrived in it. I will demonstrate evidence for their material culture and diet, as well as their mythology, political relations, and even their written language. For now, let us focus on comparing the geological description of the city of Atlantis with that of the Richat structure.

Constraint 10: The city of Atlantis must be located on a plain, surrounded by mountains which are low on all sides and descended into a river system which existed around 3500 BP, to which the city was connected by an artificial channel (Critias 113c, 115d, 118a). Plato wrote:

Bordering on the sea and extending through the centre of the whole island there was a plain, which is said to have been the fairest of all plains and highly fertile; and, moreover, near the plain, over against its centre, at a distance of about 50 stades, there stood a mountain that was low on all sides. (Critias 113c)

The country immediately about and surrounding the city was a level plain, itself surrounded by mountains which descended towards the sea. (Critias 118a)

Beginning at the sea, they bored a channel right through to the outermost circle, and thus they made the entrance to it from the sea like that to a harbor by opening out a mouth large enough for the greatest ships to sail through. (Critias 115d)

So far, the city of Atlantis is described as laying on a flat plain, which is surrounded by mountains which are low on all sides, and descend into what during the neolithic was a paleoriver or lake. When schematically visualising this, we get the following. When putting this next to a height map of the Richat structure, the resemblance is already striking. The Richat structure is indeed situated on a smooth plain which shows signs of old river beds, indicating previous fertility, and this plain is surrounded by flat mountains which gently slope downwards to the south, where today a region of desert dunes is located. In the southwest corner of the Richat structure, there seems to be an opening in between the mountains, which leads to this ancient paleo-lakebed, and upon closer inspection, a groove is noticeable which runs all the way to the outer ring of the Richat structure, but is now covered in sand. It ends up at a gap in the outer ring, which local guides often use to enter into the Richat structure, indicating that water could have once flowed from here into or out of the inner depressions of the Richat structure. Because of these strikingly accurate and specific resemblances, we can confidently conclude that constraint 10 has been satisfied.

Constraint 11: The bedrock of the city and island are rich in white, black and red stones, and the surrounding region provided mineable mineral resources such as copper, tin, silver, gold and ‘orichalcum’ (Critias 114e, 116a-c)

And the stone they quarried beneath the central island [of the city] all round, and from beneath the outer and inner circles, some of it being white, some black (116b) and some red (Critias 116a-b)

The island [Atlantis nesos] itself furnished most of the requirements of daily life,—metals, to begin with, both the hard kind and the fusible kind, which are extracted by mining, and also that kind which is now known only by name but was more than a name then, there being mines of it in many places of the island,—I mean “orichalcum,” which was the most precious of the metals then known, except gold. (Critias 114e)

In the interior of the temple the roof was of ivory, curiously wrought everywhere with gold and silver and orichalcum (Critias 116d)

Several independent explorers as well as professional geologists who visited the Richat structure have confirmed the presence of white, black and red rocks. The white rocks might refer to quartzite or siliceous breccia which have been identified all around the structure, and the red rocks most likely refer to red sandstone, which can be found around the edges of the structure (Matton, 2008). The black rocks probably refer to gabbro, a type of intrusive magmatic rock out of which the concentric rings are made (Abdeina et al., 2021), resulting from the magmatic origin of the Richat structure which will be described shortly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVOkqwGthdw&ab_channel=ArchaicLens⁠

Mauritania and Morocco are rich in various minerals and metals, among which the ones described by Plato. Mauritania has several copper mines (Smith 2023), as well as tin mines (Trading Economics, 2023) and silver mines (The Diggers, 2023). Mauritania also has a prosperous gold mining industry: in 2020, Mauritanian mines unearthed a record amount of 19.725 kg of gold (CEIC, 2020). Furthermore, the region has a strong historical connection with gold, since the region was a part of the trans-saharan gold trade routes which existed between the 7th and 14th centuries AD, of which the city of Ouadane, the closest settlement to the Richat, was also once a part (Levtzion & Hopkins 2000). Furthermore, the richest person in history, the fourteenth century, Mansa Musa, was the king of the Mali Empire, which also contained parts of Mauritania, and his wealth came from the vast amounts of gold produced by these lands (Metropolitan Museum, 2000). In modern times, many unemployed Mauritanians race through the desert in a gold rush, in order to be the first to arrive at any newly identified gold vein. In some places gold can be found just under the surface of the sand in shallow gold veins. Sadly, these mining conditions are very dangerous and unhealthy, as well as bad for the surrounding environment due to the frequent use of mercury, which is evaporated in order to extract gold (Deutsche Welle, 2023).

Of course, the fact that the land contains gold which has been mined in the past centuries up to the present is not a direct proof that the neolithic inhabitants of the Richat structure also possessed these materials, however the sheer abundance of them and their easy accessibility, would have definitely made it a reasonable possibility. In fact, Plato’s account states that the Atlanteans had so much of these precious metals, that they had little value to them, and that their spirits did not get corrupted by their wealth, before the deterioration of their morality:

They thought scorn of everything save virtue and lightly esteemed their rich possessions, bearing with ease (121a) the burden, as it were, of the vast volume of their gold and other goods; and thus their wealth did not make them drunk with pride so that they lost control of themselves and went to ruin. (Critias 120e-121a)

I have not been able to find any reported archaeological discoveries of golden artifacts from the Richat structure, however we must realise that beside some surface level surveying, the Richat structure is next to completely unexplored by archaeological excavation. It should be reminded that the Richat structure covers an area of 1963 square kilometres, or 757 square miles (Google Maps, 2023). Undoubtedly, many magnificent archaeological treasures are expected to be found buried under millennia of sand accumulation, as surface level surveillance has already concluded the presence of an abundance of spear points, artefacts, and cut stones, as will be discussed later on in the section on material remains. Furthermore, if golden artefacts were to have been scattered around the structure, it might be expected that if these were stumbled upon by desert nomads or caravans, they would most likely have been taken and possibly molten for commercial distribution as a part of the historical flourishing gold trade. A systematic investigation might be undertaken to examine various artefacts from the Adrar region, either in possession of museums, tourists, local Mauritanian museums or Mauritanians themselves, and of course in situ at the Richat structure itself, to conclusively determine whether any exotic artefacts were ever found in the region that could have dated to our target timeframe.

Regardless of whether golden artefacts are uncovered, the presence of white, black and red rocks in the Richat structure, as well as the abundance of copper, tin, silver and gold in the region indicate that the local neolithic inhabitants of this region would have had easy access to these materials, as was described by Plato, and thus constraint 11 has been satisfied.

10 - WATER IN THE RICHAT STRUCTURE

One of the biggest differences between the city of Atlantis as described by Plato and the present day Richat structure, is that the ringed city was full of water, having three large concentric rings of water, measuring 1, 2 and 3 Atlantean stades in breath, which amounts to 700 metres, 1.400 metres and 2.100 metres, or 0,43 miles, 0,86 miles and 1,29 miles.

Constraint 12: The site of the city must contain geological evidence from 3.500 BP indicating the presence of fresh and/or salty water (Critias 113d, 115d, 118d). Plato wrote:

[Poseidon] made circular belts of sea and land enclosing one another alternately, some greater, some smaller, two being of land and three of sea, which he carved as it were out of the midst of the island; and these belts were at even distances on all sides (Critias 113d)

Beginning at the sea, they bored a channel right through to the outermost circle, which was three plethra in breadth, one hundred feet in depth, and fifty stades in length; and thus they made the entrance to it from the sea like that to a harbor by opening out a mouth large enough for the greatest ships to sail through. (Critias 115d)

The current absence of water, together with the fact that the Richat structure is elevated above sea level and located some 500 kilometres or 310 miles from the Atlantic coast, have been used to argue that the Richat structure could not have been Atlantis because there would not have been any water in the inner depressions of its rings (Meano, 2019b). However, as we have seen before, the geography of the entire Sahara, including the Richat structure, was very different and a lot wetter during the African humid period, during which the city of Atlantis is said to have existed. Large lakes and rivers were scattered throughout the continent, even further inland, far removed from the Atlantic ocean. The account describes that water flowed downwards from rivers into canals towards the city. This is an accurate description of the hydrologic cycle of mountains, where condensed water from the ocean, in this case the Atlantic, precipitates at the peak of a mountain, and then flows back down into the ocean again through meltwater rivers and groundwater flows (Marston & Marston, 2017). Furthermore, dried up riverbeds around the Richat structure can clearly be seen from satellite images.

It received the streams which came down from the mountains and after circling round the plain, and coming towards the city on this side and on that, it discharged them thereabouts into the sea.(Critias 118d)

⁠

Fortunately, we don’t have to speculate since there is concrete geological evidence for the presence of water in the Richat structure during the African humid period. Many freshwater and brackish water mollusk fossils have been found in the Richat structure, and these have been carbon dated to 15,000-8,000 BP, thus falling neatly within the African humid period time frame (Sao et al., 2012). Among these mollusks are different kinds of conches, cone snails, limpets, cockles and fig shells, all of which live in tropical waters. As has been stated before, these fossil deposits were found directly upon deeply eroded and weathered bedrock covered by torrential debris, thus indicating the occurrence of aggressively flowing water, like for example a rapid flooding event. To the south of the sand, encroaching sand dunes are clearly visible, suggesting that the flood had risen from the low region to the south of the Richat structure, carrying vast amounts of sand with it. Around the Richat structure, different kinds of sediment have been identified from the African humid period, including gravelly mud, muddy gravel, clayey sand and silty sand, all of which are geological indications of the presence of water.

Archaic lens shells:

https://twitter.com/ArchaicLens/status/1680695139419693058⁠

⁠

https://twitter.com/ArchaicLens/status/1679395724637753344⁠

SHOW MY OWN SHELLS AS AN EXAMPLE, fossils were heavuily weathered so lost their shine

Further evidence for the presence of water in the Richat structure is given by the existence of dried up salt lakes, known locally as ‘sebkhet’, which are scattered throughout the Richat structure. These phenomena are also known as ‘playa lakes’, and these are formed when the water from a salt water lake evaporates, leaving only surface level salt on top of the sand bed (Schreiber & Hsü, 1980). In between the central island and the first ring of the Richat structure, a large circular playa lake is situated, known as ‘Sebkhet el Guelb’, ‘sebkhet of the heart’ (Cahill, 2023). Surprisingly, some salt lakes east of the Richat structure, known locally as ‘chotts’ (Swezey, 2003), still annually fill up with water for a short period of time during the rainy season (ESA, 2014). Since all salt on earth comes directly or indirectly from the evaporation of salt water (MedArtSal, 2022), together with the presence of salt and freshwater fossils, fluviatile sediment, dried up riverbeds and salt lakes, we can confidently conclude that salty water was indeed once present in the Richat structure during the African humid period when it was connected to the Atlantic ocean. Thus, constraint 12 has been satisfied.

Plato gives another highly specific detail about the hydrogeology of the ringed city: the account states that on the centre island, two water springs flowed, one with warm water, and another with cold water.

Constraint 13: The centre island of the city must show signs of warm and cold water springs (Critias 113e, 117a). Plato wrote:

And Poseidon himself set in order with ease, as a god would, the central island, bringing up from beneath the earth two springs of waters, the one flowing warm from its source, the other cold, and producing out of the earth all kinds of food in plenty. (Critias 113e)

The springs they made use of, one kind being of cold, another of warm water, were of abundant volume, and each kind was wonderfully well adapted for use because of the natural taste and excellence of its waters (Critias 117a) NATURAL TASTE GEOTHERMAL KARST HEATING AND MINERALISING/CARBONISING THE WATER SPRING WITH GROUNDWATER WHICH HAS NOW DRIED UP?

Amazingly, even this exceptionally specific and rare detail matches with the Richat structure. A 2014 geological survey of the centre island revealed the presence of evidence for ‘an intense low-temperature hydrothermal complex’ affecting this area (Matton & Jébrak, 2014). As will be described in more detail shortly, the Richat structure emerged as a result of magmatic uprising under the surface of the centre island, and this created a heat pocket in this area. The existence of underground karsts has been identified, which are underground cavities which collect groundwater in hydrothermal complexes such as in the centre of the Richat structure (Matton & Jébrak, 2005). Any groundwater that collected here would have been heated here, which would have resulted in warm water flowing from the water spring which drained this water. Groundwater which collected higher up in the sediment would be less exposed to the subterranean heat, and thus the existence of another wellspring of cold water in the same area would have been wholly plausible. The water from these springs was said to have had an excellent natural taste (Critias 117a), and this is easily explained by the fact that this water would have been filtered by the sediment, something which even today distinguishes the more prestigious brands of mineral water from regular tap water. Plato further described the wellsprings as follows:

They surrounded [the water springs] with buildings and with plantations of trees such as suited the waters; (117b) and, moreover, they set reservoirs round about, some under the open sky, and others under cover to supply hot baths in the winter; they put separate baths for the kings and for the private citizens, besides others for women, and others again for horses and all other beasts of burden, fitting out each in an appropriate manner. And the outflowing water they conducted to the sacred grove of Poseidon, which contained trees of all kinds that were of marvellous beauty and height because of the richness of the soil; and by means of channels they led the water to the outer circles over against the bridges. (Critias 117a-b)

In this passage, it is mentioned that hot baths were fed by the warm spring which were covered over for use during the winter, implying that they were inside some sort of natural cave or artificial cavity. Since karsts, which are underground cavities, have been identified in the centre island, it seems highly likely that during the existence of the city, these karsts were accessible from the surface or after some quarrying, from which local inhabitants benefitted by effectively using them as natural bathhouses (Janssens, 2023).

Finally, the account described that the water from the wellsprings was directed by channels to the outer rings, over against the artificial land bridges (Critias 117b). When inspecting height maps and satellite images of the Richat structure, it is readily apparent that many small breaches exist around the edges of the land rings, with clearly visible dried up river beds which flow out of these breaches. These seem to be the most obvious candidate for the remains of the water channels mentioned in the account. Now that we have identified the previous existence of a hydrothermal complex, as well as karst caves, groundwater reservoirs and diverting channels, we can safely assume that constraint 13 has been satisfied.

Recently, a spectacular 400-km-long submarine channelsystem—the Cap Timiris Canyon—has been discovered on thewestern Sahara margin off Mauritania15 (Fig. 1). Large-scalesubmarine channels generally occur off major river mouths;therefore, the Cap Timiris Canyon was one of the very firstchannel systems of this kind to be identified offshore a deserticregion15. These recent findings imply that the Cap TimirisCanyon was connected to a major river system in the past12,15–17.

In fact, a Simulated Topological Network (STN) for potential flowpathways constructed from a digital elevation model also arguefor the existence of a large river system in Western Sahara18,taking its sources from the Hoggar Highlands and the southernAtlas mountains in Algeria (Fig. 1). This so-called TamanrasettRiver valley has been described as a possible vast ancienthydrographic system that would rank twelfth at present amongthe top 50 largest drainage basins worldwide18. Although aputative link between the Tamanrasett paleoriver and the CapTimiris Canyon has been already suggested previously12,15–17,direct evidence of any fluvial activity and of a connection to thecanyon has never been found on the continent.

(7) (PDF) African humid periods triggered the reactivation of a large river system in Western Sahara. Available from:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283714259_African_humid_periods_triggered_the_reactivation_of_a_large_river_system_in_Western_Sahara⁠

[accessed Mar 04 2022].

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